Should I Forgive Them??

Hey G.A.G.O.H. readers!! Life sure has a way of keeping us on our toes. It has been a very busy month and Summertime brings me no promise of rest. My family and I decided to start a vegetable garden a few weeks ago and already we have sprouts growing everywhere!! I'm also participating in a Bible memorization challenge at my church, the young people are memorizing the entire chapter of Psalm 119 (just for your information, that's the longest chapter in the Bible!!). All the young people and kids at church hosted a Mother's Day meal on Sunday (May 10) in honor of all the mothers. We are also getting ready for our annual trip to the youth conference in Hammond, Indiana. This year though, we plan on going to Six Flags Great America/Hurricane Harbor and the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago!! Everyone's excited and can't wait to go.
Amidst all the excitement, God never rests from teaching His children their daily lessons. One of the hardest things for us humans to learn is forgiveness. It is especially difficult to forgive someone when they keep doing that same thing over and over again. I find it extremely hard to forgive those who tell me lies and talk behind my back, it's like those people are betraying me...betraying? Jesus was betrayed. He knows exactly what it feels like to have people turn their backs on you. How many times have you done something wrong, asked God to forgive you, and later did that same thing again? How would you feel if one day God decided He wasn't going to forgive you and you must therefore spend the rest of your days with a shameful load of guilt over your heart? Who are we to judge and point fingers at other people's faults? Well, that girl had sex out of wedlock; that guy is an alcoholic; that person stole $1,000 from the church; my dad hit my mom, etc.,etc. There's nothing we can do about what other people are doing, we can only make sure that what we are doing is right. In God's eyes we are ALL dirty sinners in dire need of a bath. In fact, each one of us deserve a death penalty for our sins (no matter how good you think you are, Isaiah 64:6). Those who have asked God for forgiveness have been washed through the blood of Jesus who took our death penalty and died in our place!! God didn't and doesn't have to forgive us, He's God, He can do as He pleases, but He chose to forgive. How can we expect God to forgive us if we are unwilling to forgive others? Did they sin against you? No, they may have hurt you, but the naked truth is that all sin that ever was, is, and will be committed is a crime against, not you, but God. Out of the 6 billion people in the world, 6 billion of them have committed at least one sin, imagine, that's 6 billion times, at least, that God has to forgive those who have hurt Him!! Whew!! Now I understand what the Prophet Jeremiah meant when he said, 'It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.' (Lamentations 3:22) And here we are complaining about how Heather gave me the 'evil eye'!! May this be a lesson to us all, forgiveness is something we all need, but we must also extend it to others. God bless!!